Meat Loaf - Biography
By David Downs
Theatrical rock icon Meat Loaf parlayed his legendary work in the Broadway play Hair and a spot on the midnight movie screens of The Rocky Horror Picture Show into the 1977 chart-smashing album Bat Out of Hell (1977 Epic). The bizarre and bombastic LP incorporated Meat Loaf’s acting and singing skills to sell more than 35 million copies. Meat Loaf’s rollercoaster career careened between smash hits, nervous breakdowns, injuries, and cocaine abuse, mingled with multi-platinum smashes. 1993’s Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell (1993 MCA) featured the single “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That),” which won him a Grammy. Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose was released in 2006. Meat Loaf continues to perform and record, and is considered one of the top-selling musicians of all time.
Marvin Lee Aday was born on September 27, 1947 in Dallas, Texas. As his police officer father was often drunk, Marvin spent much of his time with his grandmother, Charlsee Norrod. By the time Marvin was attending Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, he was appearing in musicals like Where’s Charley? and The Music Man. The origins of the nickname Meat Loaf are unknown, but Marvin came of age amid the ‘60’s counterculture movement and the name would color his personality in many ways. Like many creative minds of that era, he dodged the draft and would eventually encounter numerous drug problems.
At the age of 20, Meat Loaf’s mother died and he left Texas for Los Angeles. Once in LA, he worked as a bouncer at a nightclub and formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul. According to lore, during the recording of their first song Meat Loaf’s singing blew a fuse on the recording monitor and he was immediately offered three separate recording contracts. He turned them down, marking the beginning of his rocky career choices. Meat Loaf Soul went through numerous members and name changes, becoming Floating Circus and Popcorn Blizzard. The band opened for The Who, the Stooges, and Ted Nugent. When Floating Circus split, Meat Loaf parked cars for a living and auditioned for a role in the popular musical Hair. He got the part, went to Detroit, and received an invite from Motown, for whom he recorded and toured. In 1971, Meat Loaf rejoined Hair on Broadway. His agent got him a fated audition for a theater production of More Than You Deserve where he met future collaborator Jim Steinman.
In 1972, Meat Loaf and Steinman began work on a bombastic rock opera the likes of which the world had never seen. The album would eventually be titled Bat Out of Hell (1977 Epic), but there would be diversions first. In 1973, Meat Loaf joined the UK cast of The Rocky Horror Show playing Eddie and Dr. Scott. The play led to the 1975 cult smash film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which still screens across America to this day. The film has grossed $130 million on costs of about $1 million. In 1976, Meat Loaf sang on Nugent’s LP Free-for-All (1976 Epic). Meat Loaf then scored a role in the National Lampoon Show on Broadway where he befriended Ellen Foley, who would help bring the female vocals of Bat Out of Hell to life. After Lampoon, Meat Loaf and Steinman’s rock opera concept was rejected by the industry until production maverick Todd Rundgren signed on to produce it and play lead guitar. Rungrend’s band Utopia also played. The album had no label takers until a subsidiary of Epic, Cleveland International Records, released Bat Out of Hell on October 21, 1977.
Primarily composed by Steinman, Bat Out of Hell launched Meat Loaf to worldwide fame. The melodramatic, teen rock saga skillfully blends oldies, prog rock, hard rock, and musicals. It created three Top 40 singles – “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” and “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” – and became a best-selling album for the decade, spending over 400 weeks in the UK charts.
In 1978, Meat Loaf appeared on Saturday Night Live, boosting his popularity even more. Around this time, Meat Loaf and Steinman began to fight, as Steinman felt ignored amid the Meat Loaf craze. That same year, Meat Loaf fell off a stage and broke his leg at a show in Canada. Allegedly, he began to use drugs before suffering a nervous breakdown. He also married Leslie Edmonds that year. He returned to host Saturday Night Live with fellow Rocky Horror alumni Tim Curry in 1980, as well as star in the movie Roadie.
In 1981, Steinman released his own album, Bad for Good (1981 Epic), without Meat Loaf, but the two could not find the same success on their own. In 1983, Steinman sued Meat Loaf and Epic. Three years later, Meat Loaf declared bankruptcy. For the remainder of the 80’s, Meat Loaf continued to release albums, but none of them had the staying power of Bat Out of Hell. He appeared in several films, including 1981’s Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams and 1992’s Wayne’s World.
In 1993, Meat Loaf and Steinman mended fences to record the sequel Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell (1993 MCA), which would go to number one on the charts in the US and the UK, and sell millions of copies. The massive hit single “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” is a romantic, metallic power ballad that details a lover’s dedication. A mini-opera of a song, it is 12 minutes long and features guest vocalist Ellen Foley.
Meat Loaf’s 1995 follow-up, Welcome to the Neighborhood (1995 Virgin), went platinum in both the US and UK without the help of Steinman. His acting career kept him busy, and he appeared in several films and television shows including the 1999 cult classic Fight Club and a South Park episode. After a heavy schedule of touring, Meat Loaf collapsed while performing on a London stage in 2003 and was later diagnosed with the very rare Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.
Three years later, Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster is Loose (2006 Epic) was released. Although Steinman was originally scheduled to work on the project, health issues may have held him back. A lawsuit was threatened nonetheless, but the two men settled out of court. Although the album was certified gold, it enjoyed far less success than the prior two Bat Out Of Hell projects. After cancelling shows and suffering a cyst on his vocal chords, Meat Loaf came roaring back in 2010 with a new record, called Hang Cool Teddy Bear, which was followed in 2011 by Hell In A Handbasket, quelling any rumors that Meatloaf was retired; He is very much still in the game.